


Tell Me A Story

by IdiotsPlayingVideoGames



Series: After the End [1]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Family, Gen, No Beta, Story within a Story, endgame spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-11
Updated: 2019-05-16
Packaged: 2020-03-01 05:57:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18794359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IdiotsPlayingVideoGames/pseuds/IdiotsPlayingVideoGames
Summary: *ENDGAME SPOILERS*Morgan demands bedtime stories, but fairy-tales are not what she wants. Instead, Tony tells the stories he knows best. Stories of scientists and vikings. Archers and spies. The heroes he knew long before she was born.





	1. The Scientist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time, a scientist learned how to accept himself.

“Tell me a story.”

Tony paused with his finger on the light switch. “You want a story?”

Dark brown hair bounced along with the four year old’s enthusiastic nods.

He made a big show of relenting and sighing. “Fine. One quick story then bed.” Tony sat back on the edge of the bed. “Once upon a time, there was a princess named Morgan who--”

“No!” She bumped her closed fists on the comforter. “I want a real story.”

Tony raised his eyebrows. “Princess Morgan isn’t a real story?”

Morgan shook her head.

“Hm.” He crossed his arms and looked up at the ceiling, momentarily at a loss. His eyes wandered to her expectant face. “Alright, let’s see. Once upon a time,” he began again. “There was a scientist. He worked at a big laboratory.” He waved his hands broadly. “Top of the line stuff. Almost as cool as the garage. The Scientist was very smart. Very, very smart.”

“As smart as you?”

“Please,” Tony scoffed. “No one’s that smart.”

“Except for Mommy.”

His lips twitched upward. _Smart kid_. “Except for Mommy.”

Morgan nodded gravely in understanding. “What happened?”

“The Scientist was working in his lab one night when he got hit with a great, big, blast of gamma radiation.” He reached over and tickled Morgan until she squealed. “It made him super strong. Stronger than anyone else on the face of the earth. And big and green.”

“Like spinach?”

“Exactly like spinach.”

“Ew.”

“Extremely ew, but he can pull off the mean green look.” Tony reached over and tucked her hair behind her ear as she giggled. “After he changed, The Scientist was really scared. He accidentally hurt someone he loved because he couldn’t control his strength and that made a lot of people scared, too. They thought he was a monster.”

Morgan whispered, “What happened to him?”

“Well, he ran. He ran as far away as he could and tried to hide from his problems. Which never works, right? We have to face our problems.” He tapped his daughter on her nose until she giggled. “The Scientist couldn’t hide forever, either, and eventually the world needed his help. So a special uh,” Tony hesitated as he racked his brain for something better than ‘agent’ or ‘assassin.’ “Spy went and found the scientist and told him that he needed to help save the world. He didn’t want to at first. He was still scared. But his friends all believed in him and you know what?”

“What?” Morgan asked, her brown eyes wide.

“He showed up right when all his friends needed them most. He knocked a giant whale alien out of the sky with one punch! He saved the whole world from an alien invasion. He even beat a god while he was at it. The Scientist learned how to not be scared, so you don’t need to be scared either, okay?” He tucked the blankets up around his daughter and rubbed a calloused thumb across her cheek. “Now, go to sleep.”

“‘Kay.” The girl gave a wide yawn and her eyes slipped closed. “Love you,” she murmured.

“Love you more.” Tony stood and quietly flipped off the light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all like this story. It's not the most exciting. It's just a father telling stories to his daughter.


	2. The Archer and The Spy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time, two spies proved that choices of our past do not define our future.

“Story time! Story time!” Morgan bounced up and down on her bed with energy Tony wished he possessed.

He rubbed a hand over his eyes. “Morgan, it’s midnight. Your mom is going to kill me if you don’t go to bed right now.”

She frowned, her eyebrows knitting together in an exact replica of Pepper’s pout. He never was good at saying no to that look.

With a dramatic sigh he relented. “Fine, one quick story.”

“Yes!” Morgan plopped down on the bed and looked up at her father expectantly.

“Right. Okay. Well, did you know, that The Spy who helped The Scientist used to be bad?”

The little girl solemnly shook her head.

Tony leaned against the door-frame and crossed his arms. “It’s true.”

“What was she doing?”

“Stealing all the juice pops,” Tony stage whispered, earning a horrified gasp. “Luckily, there was an archer--”

“What’s an archer?”

“A guy who shoots arrows. You know, like, uh,” he struggled to think of a pop culture figure she would know.  _Legolas, Katniss, has she seen Brave?_

“Robin Hood!”

“You got it. And like Robin Hood, The Archer was the best in the business. He could hit anything without even looking. He could shoot a grape off the top of my head. True story.”

“Wow,” Morgan gasped quietly.

“Now, The Archer worked for a guy called The Eyepatch and went on all sorts of secret missions all over the world. One day, he got a special assignment. He was sent to find a woman with fiery red hair who was stealing juice pops.”

“The Spy!”

“Yep. She was very hard to find. I’m talking world champion at hide-and-seek. It took a long time, but eventually The Archer tracked her down.”

Morgan cocked her head to one side. “Did she get in a lot of trouble?”

Tony raised his eyebrows and leaned forward. “She should have been grounded for life, but The Archer realized she wasn’t all bad. He knew she’d made mistakes and he also knew that she could change. So he showed some compassion. It took time, but eventually The Spy herself realized she could be good. She started working for The Eyepatch and tried to fix all the mistakes she had made.”

“She returned all the juice pops?”

“She couldn’t give back the juice pops she took,” Tony admitted. “But she wanted to stop other people from getting their juice pops stolen.”

“That’s good.” Morgan nodded with a yawn. “Did she and The Archer become friends?”

“The best of friends,” her father confirmed as her eyes slipped closed.

“Good.” Morgan murmured.

“Love you,” Tony said as he turned off the light.

“Love you more.”

“I love you times ten.”

“Love you fifteen.”

A small smiled tugged at his lips. “Alright. You win.” Tony eased the door closed behind him.

“Juice pops?”

He turned to find Pepper waiting for him, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. “Can you think of a better analogy for assassinations to tell our four-year-old daughter?”

Pepper chuckled. “I think it was perfect.” She moved forward and wrapped Tony in her blanket cocoon. She laid her cheek against his shoulder and let her eyes close. “Come on, let’s go to bed.”

A gentle kiss was placed on her ginger hair. They stayed wrapped like that for a few moments before he broke free enough to not trip them as they walked to their room. “Did you hear what she said, by the way? She loves me fifteen.”

“It’s not a competition, Tony,” Pep chuckled lightly.

“Oh, I know. I just thought you’d want to know.” He squeezed her closer. “Just for your files.”

“I’ll mark it down.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the kudos! Hope you liked the sweet juice pop version of Nat and Clint's story. Let me know what you think. Any guesses as to who's up next? He has an electric personality *ba dum tss*
> 
> I'll show myself out.


	3. The Viking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time, there was a prince who made mistakes.

Morgan was completely wrapped in blankets, hidden from view. Every so often a sniffle would escape the mass of comforter.

“Morgan, sweetie,” Pepper said from where she sat on the bed. “Mommy and Daddy were just so scared when we couldn’t find you. You can’t go into the woods by yourself like that.” She looked over at Tony and nodded toward their daughter in the universal sign of _Your turn to say something_.

Tony cleared his throat and shifted against the wall. Truth be told, her little escapade almost sent him into a panic attack. If it hadn’t been for Pep, he probably would have leveled half the trees to find her faster. “Wandering off alone isn’t okay,” he stated. His father was never hands on so he had no idea how to properly discipline children, but Tony was trying to stick to a more diplomatic approach with child-rearing.  “You can go into the woods if one of us can come with you.”

“I wanted to go see the bunnies,” came a muffled reply interspersed with sniffles. “You were working.”

“I know, but you have to be patient sometimes. You can’t always get what you want right away. That’s not how life works,” Pepper explained.

Tony moved to the other side of the bed and knelt down. “Morgan?”

The cocoon closed tighter.

Tony folded his arms on the bed and rested his chin on top. “Would you like to hear a story?”

No reply came, but he began anyway after grabbing a princess ragdoll from the floor.

“Once upon a time, there was a prince called The Viking. He could control lightning using a special hammer that only he could pick up. He also had the most beautiful golden hair. You would think he was a princess if you saw him from behind.”

“I don’t know about that,” Pepper said with a sly grin.

He shot her a withering look. “Story time, Pep. Listening only. Where was I? On the day The Viking was going to be crowned king, big bad giants broke into the castle and there was a giant battle.”

Morgan peeked slightly out from her hiding place, though Tony pretended not to notice as he reenacted the fight with the princess and some stuffed bears.

“He fought the giants back and saved the day.”

Pepper applauded quietly and Morgan gave a small smile.

“The story doesn’t end there,” Tony warned. “The Viking wanted to get back at the giants and go to their place even though his dad specifically told him not to. The Viking decided to go anyway. He thought he knew better than his dad. So he took some friends and they went to the giants home. But there were too many of giants and they ended up losing the fight.” The teddy bears piled on top of the princess.

Morgan had emerged partially from her covers as she became enthralled in the story.

“Just when it looked like the end for The Viking and his friends, his dad appeared and saved them.” Tony dramatically knocked the bears off the bed. “The Viking got in a lot of trouble. He not only did what his dad told him not to, but he put himself and his friends in a lot of danger. His dad took away his special hammer and banished him from the kingdom.”

“Was The Viking in trouble for a long time?” Morgan asked solemnly, her eyes downcast.

Tony shifted slightly. His knees were beginning to ache. “It took awhile, but eventually he proved to his dad that he learned his lesson. He decided that it was important to think about those around him instead of just what he wanted.” Tony waved the princess doll in front of Morgan until she reached out to grab it.

Morgan looked up with puppy dog eyes, clutching the doll tightly. “He got his hammer back?”

Pepper stroked her daughter’s hair and nodded. “He got his hammer back.”

“So if I’m good and follow the rules will I get to go see the bunnies again?”

“Of course,” Pep assured.

Morgan finally sat up and looked at her parents. “I’m sorry.”

“We forgive you.” Pepper pulled her into a hug. “Sleep tight.” She kissed her on the forehead and arranged the covers around her. “I love you so much.”

Tony moved around to put his hands on Pepper’s shoulders.

“Love you one-hundred.” Morgan snuggled down with her princess tightly held in her arms.

Pepper smirked at Tony as the pair quietly left. Tony waited until the door was softly shut before raising his eyebrows at her. “You have something to say?”

“Nope,” she said, smiling at the ceiling. “Just making a mental note.”

“Rub it in, why don’t you.” Tony rolled his eyes good-naturedly.

“Remember, Tony, it’s not a competition.” The corners of her eyes crinkled with her smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like this chapter a lot for some reason. IDK why, maybe the family dynamic? Hope you liked it. I haven't quite finished the next chapter, but I'll have it finished real quick. Any guesses as to who it will be? Any people you want to hear stories about?


	4. The Agent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time, there was a woman who changed the world.

Time slipped away so quickly when Tony worked in the lab. One minute, he was running a little late for lunch then he blinked at it was well past dinner time.

“Alright, FRIDAY, let’s wrap up here.”

“You got it, boss,” his AI said as she reduced the schematics and turned off the hologram projection.

“Dum-E, don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone.” He looked meaningfully at the robot as he safely stowed the purple and silver helmet in its hiding spot. “And no locking me out of the garage this time.”

Dum-E hung its mechanical arm in shame.

Tony flicked off the lights as he left and jogged up the short staircase to the main house. The house lights were dimmed and the water of the lake was barely visible outside the windows where it reflected the full moon. There was no sign of his girls on the main floor and he quietly made his way upstairs. Murmurs from Morgan’s room drew his attention. He settled outside the door and listened.

“What did she do then?” Morgan was asking.

“She was very brave and she went right into battle with all the men,” Pepper replied. “She wasn’t going to let the boys do all the saving.”

“That’s good.”

Tony could hear the smile in Pepper’s voice as she continued. “They ran into the castle to find The Red Skull. They knew that if they didn’t stop him right then, he would destroy the world with his magic cube. Finally, The Agent and The Soldier tracked him down. They fought The Red Skull until he tried to escape on a plane. He was planning on destroying The Agent and The Soldier’s home. Luckily, our heroes were able to catch up just before the plane took off and The Soldier jumped on bored with the help of The Agent.”

“Did they win?”

“They did. And The Agent went on to save a lot more people. She even helped your Grandpa Stark. She went all over the world and fought many bad people. She stopped wars from happening and kept bad guys from getting a hold of dangerous weapons.” The bed creaked as Pepper shifted. “Back then, it was very hard for a girl to do what boys did because the boys didn’t think they could. The Agent proved them all wrong. She made it possible for a lot of other girls to do amazing things.”

Tony peeked in the doorway and smiled softly at the sight of Pepper holding their daughter.

“So when you grow up and become an astronaut or a spy or--”

“A scientist!”

“Or a scientist,” Pepper agreed with a laugh. “You can thank The Agent and all the strong women like her for making it easier for you to do what you want.”

The pair remained cuddled for a moment before something seemed to dawn on Morgan. “What happened to The Soldier?”

Pepper looked down at her daughter before her eyes flicked to Tony. “That is a story that your father should tell.”

A muscle twitched in Tony’s jaw.

“Not tonight, of course,” Pepper said as she extracted herself from Morgan’s hug. “Maybe tomorrow. Sweet dreams.” She kissed her on the forehead before leaving. “Love you.”

“Love you,” Morgan responded.

Tony blew her a kiss before the door was closed.

“Sounded like quite the story,” Tony remarked when Pepper joined him in the hallway. “Sorry I only got to hear the end of it.”

“She was very insistent on a story and you weren’t answering my calls.” Pepper crossed her arms and looked at him pointedly, but there was a slight glint of teasing in her eye.

“I’ll make sure my phone’s off vibrate from now on.” He held up his hand in a scout’s honor. “If it makes you feel any better, I think you’ll really like my new project.”

They walked toward their room in silence, Tony lost in thought.

“You know she might forget about that story by tomorrow,” Pepper said, reading his mind.

He chuckled mirthlessly. “You know she won’t.”

She laid a gentle hand on his forearm. “It would be good for you to talk about him.”

Tony raised an eyebrow at her. “When did you become my psychiatrist?”

With a shrug, she averted her eyes. “I’m just saying it can’t hurt.”

“I don’t remember ordering storytime therapy.”

“Tony.”

He snorted. “You’re probably right. You always are.” He put an arm around her shoulders and hugged her to him.

“At least you’re beginning to realize it.” Pepper smiled as she leaned in to kiss him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to DancingAndTheDreaming (love the name, BTW) for the Peggy idea. I was wondering how to organically bring up the next chapter, and this worked out perfectly. Hope you liked this one. It's a bit shorter, but there are going to be two pretty long chapters that I've already written so it will even out. Let me know what ya think.


	5. The Soldier

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time, there was a man who always did what he believed was right.

It had been years since they spoke. Even longer since they’d had a civilized conversation. True, it was usually Tony who raised his voice, but it was Steve who first broke the friendship. He had to take some of the blame. If he hadn’t run away with his crazy friend and disappeared, maybe they could have come together and stopped Thanos from the beginning. Kept the stones safe. Stopped the dusting. Prevented all of this.

As night approached, he still had no idea how he would tell the story. He’d tried to develop some sort of script, but everything felt insincere. Winging things seemed to be his forte, anyway.

“What story would you like to hear tonight?” Tony asked as he pulled Morgan’s little desk chair over to the bed and sat on it backwards. He well aware of the response he would get, but there was the slightest bit of hope she had forgotten. “I know a good one about The Archer where he plays a prank on The Spy and--”

“No,” Morgan said with a head shake. “The Soldier.”

“Ah, the one Mommy was telling you about.”

She nodded, her dark eyes watching him expectantly.

“Alright, let’s see.” He took a moment to corral his thoughts. “So Mommy told you about how The Agent helped make him super, right?”

Morgan nodded.

“And how he went and rescued all the people? And jumped on the plane with The Red Skull?” A nod responded to each question. “Well, there was only one way to stop the plane and The Red Skull. The Soldier had to crash the it. He flew straight into the ocean.” Tony raised one hand and swooped it down to crash it into his other as a demonstration.

A small gasp escaped Morgan. She clutched her princess doll, now called The Viking.

“Luckily, he crashed into very cold water and frozen solid.” Tony scratched the back of his neck. “That doesn’t sound lucky, does it? But it was. He froze and later people were able to find him and thaw him out. He was like a giant juice pop.”

“That’s silly,” she giggled.

“It really was. He looked absolutely ridiculous. After he was all thawed out, he started working with the other heroes to protect the world.”

“Like The Viking?” Morgan held up her doll and flew it around over her head.

“Yep. And The Archer, The Scientist, and The Spy,” Tony listed of on his fingers. “The Soldier worked a lot with The Spy. They managed to keep the world safe for a long time. They stopped problems before they even started. Then one of The Soldier’s old friends came back.”

“The Agent?”

“No. We’ll call this friend The Sergeant. He had pretty cool metal arm.” Tony leaned heavily on the back of his chair. “He had also been frozen and brought back. Unfortunately, he worked for the bad guys.”

“Why?” Morgan demanded.

“He didn’t know that what he was doing was wrong. All he knew was that he was supposed to follow any orders he was given by the guys in charge.”

“Oh.” She frowned.

“The Soldier thought that his friend could be a good person again, so he hunted down the group that was controlling The Sergeant. The Soldier had to work in secret.” Tony held his finger to his lips pointedly. “Because some of the people in charge of The Soldier were secretly bad. He found out that the bad guys were slowly trying to take over the world by being really sneaky.”

“Did he stop them?”

He nodded. “He fought his way through the whole organization, destroyed it with that shield of his. He even had to fight The Sergeant at one point. The Soldier managed to stop the bad guys in the end.”

“Did he save The Sergeant?”

“Kind of. The Sergeant got free of the bad guys, but he was still confused and went into hiding. The Soldier had to track him down.”

“Was he good at hide-and-seek, like The Spy?”

“He was.” Tony nodded. “He was very good, but eventually The Soldier found him.”

Morgan rolled onto her side and peered at her dad over her doll. “Was he still bad?”

“No. He was trying to be good, but people still blamed him for all the bad things he did. Some of The Soldier’s friends thought it would be a good idea to put new rules in place that would make it harder for super people to do bad things. The rules would make it so someone else would be in charge of what the heroes could and couldn’t do.”

“Like a babysitter?”

“Yes, just like Happy.”

Morgan pursed her lips. “But what if the babysitter was bad? Like the other bad guys?”

“That was the same problem The Soldier thought of. He didn’t like the new rules at all. So he decided to leave. He left most of his friends behind when he left.”

“Why didn’t he take them with him?”

“Some of his friends thought the rules were a good idea. Some others had families and couldn’t just run away.” Tony sighed softly. “The Soldier promised that he would come back and help if his friends ever asked him to. The Spy went with him and he found a safe place for The Sergeant to hide where no one would find him.” Tony paused, his eyes dropping to the floor. “He left a lot of people behind. Broke a few hearts. Made a lot of people upset. Some people who thought he was one of their best friends got left behind.”

Morgan yawned, but held onto wakefulness. “Do you think he was wrong?”

“I used to,” her father admitted. He’d had years to consider the decisions everyone made back then. It all seemed almost trivial now. Time and space made everything seem not worth the fight. “I think he did what he thought was right. Everyone was just doing what they thought was right. Sometimes there’s no right and wrong answer. You have to think about what you think is best and hopefully you make the right decision.” He stood and moved the chair back to its proper place.

“Did he come back?” Morgan asked as Tony deposited a kiss on her forehead.

“He did. As soon as he was asked, he came back to help as much as he could. Now go to sleep.” He stroked her hair and tucked the covers snugly around her. “Love you.”

“Love you more,” she breathed, already half-asleep.

“I love you five hundred,” Tony whispered back as he closed the door completely.

Pepper was waiting for him in their bedroom while reading a book on gardening. Tony flopped on the bed dramatically with a sigh.

“How’d it go?” she asked.

“Strangely therapeutic,” Tony admitted. “You were right, as always.” He rolled onto his side and looked at her. “Is this what it feels like to let go of anger? I gotta say, it’s quite a relief. I feel light as a feather.”

She considered him with a raised eyebrow.

“I’m serious! The hint of sarcasm is just naturally part of my voice,” he said, scooting closer to her and pulling her into a hug. “I think I had a real breakthrough. Letting go of the past and all that.”

Pep placed her book on the side table and snuggled into his embrace with a chuckle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I rewrote this chapter three times, no joke. That's not counting the dozens of completely scrapped paragraphs in-between. I was just about to post it last night, then I read part of it and went "Oh no." I'm happier with this version. Hopefully you are too. We are nearing the end of what I had planned. Two chapters left.


	6. The Kid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time, there was a kid who was very brave...

He’d figured it out. Of course he’d figured it out. He was Tony Stark: smartest billionaire, playboy, philanthropist in the world. At least what was left of it. He should have just left everything alone. Accepted that time travel was an incredibly stupid endeavor inspired solely by the ravings of a man depending on mainly movie science. But he didn't do that. He just had to go and actually solve the question of time travel.

All Pepper had to do was say the word and he would have abandoned the whole thing. Chucked it in the lake. Instead, she had looked at him with that quiet, sad smile that she used to give him whenever he was about to do something recklessly heroic. She’d sat with him and talked to him about it for almost an hour before kissing him on the cheek and leaving him to his thoughts without pressuring him either way.

“Damn,” he mumbled under his breath as he stared at the quietly rotating Mobius strip. It wasn’t like anyone else knew. Pepper wouldn’t tell anyone. It could be their secret. But he would know. His conscience had been increasingly annoying as of late and every damn time he closed his eyes he saw dust and heard the ghostly echoes of  _ Mr. Stark? _

He could barely remember the kid’s voice.

Tightness gripped Tony’s chest and he braced clenched fists on his table, focusing on taking slow quiet breaths. Five seconds in, five seconds out. In. Out.

If there was even a chance. . .

The stairs were quiet as he climbed them and slipped into Morgan’s room. His daughter slept quietly, her dark hair splayed across the pillow. Tony slowly settled on the edge of the bed and stroked the side of her face. His tired eyes earnestly tried to commit her features to memory.

“Once upon a time,” he began in barely a whisper. “There was a kid who was very brave. His parents died when he was young and he lived with his aunt and uncle. One day, The Kid got bit by a special spider that gave him super powers. Next thing you know, he was swinging around in a stupid handmade suit. Zero protection. Questionable sewing ability.” Tony rubbed his face with his hands. “Just a matter of time before he got himself killed.” He paused, his hands steepled over his nose and mouth. “His uncle died soon after he became super, but instead of stopping he kept right on doing stupid heroic stunts. Like he was trying to make up for not being able to protect his uncle. People took notice of The Kid saving New York. He wasn’t like the other heroes. He treated everything like it was the most important problem in the world. Lost old ladies, cats stuck in trees, bicycle thieves, they all were treated seriously by The Kid, even if he didn’t always get thanked.” Tony wished he had saved those voicemails. He wished for a lot of things.

“Some idiot decided it would be a good idea to pull The Kid into all sorts of ridiculously crazy situations, like a fight with some of the strongest superheroes on the planet. Then,” Tony continued, gesturing with sharply with his right hand. “He goes and tries to fight a supervillain all by himself even though I-- even though he was told to wait and let the professionals handle it. I mean, I get it. He just wanted to be like his heroes and make the world a better place.” He slouched, eyes stinging. “Then everything went to hell. Spaceships. Wizards. Squidward. A giant purple grape. The Kid didn’t ask any questions. Didn’t hesitate. Jumped right into the fight.” Tony frowned. “Almost got sucked into space without a spacesuit. When specifically told to  _ not _ get on the spaceship, he refused to follow orders.” He shook his head. “Guess it was a good thing he came, though. He saved a wizard. Met some idiots out in space. There was a huge battle on an alien planet and The Kid held his own. He did great fighting against The Grape. . .” Tony lapsed into silence, replaying the scene for the millionth time as he tried to find some way he could have changed the outcome.

“What happened next?” Morgan’s sleepy voice startled Tony.

“Didn’t I threaten to sell all of your toys if you didn’t go to sleep?”

Morgan yawned and rubbed one eye, ignoring the empty threat. “What happened to The Kid?”

Tightness threatened to close Tony’s throat and he cleared it quickly. “Well, The Kid and a whole bunch of other people disappeared.”

“Where did they go?”

A beat of silence. “I don’t know.”

Morgan frowned at her ceiling. “Someone should go find them.”

“Yeah,” Tony agreed quietly. “Someone should.”

“Like The Spy. She’s good at hide-and-seek. Maybe she knows where they hid. Or The Archer, since he found The Spy.”

“Very good points. Maybe they will. Now, go back to sleep.” He kissed her on her forehead. “Daddy’s just going to sit here for a little while.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One story left.


	7. The Mechanic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time, there was a man made of iron.

There were still people at the lake house long after the sun set on the funeral. Most sat in the living room, smiling and laughing as they swapped memories. The last time Peter saw them all together was back in Germany. Seeing them out of costume and acting like old friends was much preferred.

For his part, Peter stood to the side, listening to the stories with a plastered smile. It didn’t feel real to him. In fact, the past few days felt like an unreal dream, not helped by the fact that "the past few days" had actually been five years.

“Careful, you’re beginning to look more out of place than I feel.” The guy with the metal arm leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. He’d been so still Peter hadn’t noticed him at first.

“Oh, uh, hi! I don’t think we’ve officially met. Well except for the airport thing, but that wasn’t exactly a meeting, more like fighting.” He stuck out a hand. “Peter Parker.”

The man smirked and shook the teen’s hand. “Bucky. Sorry for trying to punch your lights out last time we met.”

“It wasn’t that hard of a punch,” Peter said without thinking, then quickly tried to backtrack. “I mean, it was a great punch! I just mean I’ve been punched a lot harder than that. Not that you aren’t super strong or anything. I mean, you probably weren’t expecting me to catch it so I bet if you tried to punch me out now you probably could.” Bucky raised an eyebrow and Peter immediately snapped his mouth shut. They lapsed into silence, both watching the group in front of them. “It’s weird,” Peter finally said, his voice somber. “That he’s gone.”

Bucky considered him for a moment. “You guys were pretty close?”

“Yeah.” Peter rubbed a hand along the back of his neck. “I mean, he gave me my cool suits and taught me to be the best I could be. I owe him a lot.” His shoulders slumped. “And I have no idea how to make it up to him now that he’s…”

A sigh escaped the older man. “Listen, kid, you can’t always pay back someone. All you can do is pay it forward.” He shifted against the wall. “I owe Steve more than my life and I know I won’t be able to pay him back for everything he’s done for me. The way I can show him my appreciation is by living my life. That’s what he wants for me and I feel that’s what Stark would have wanted for you.” He jerked his chin toward the group. “It wouldn’t hurt to keep an eye on his family, too.”

Peter followed his gaze to the little girl curled in Pepper’s lap. She’d exchanged her black dress for pajamas long ago, but had refused to leave the party. He’d talked to her for a little bit earlier. She seemed like a really cool kid.

Morgan yawned and leaned up to say something to her mother. Pepper whispered something back before addressing the group. “It looks like someone is ready for bed. If you’ll excuse me.” She started to stand when Peter piped up.

“I’ll take her!” he said a bit too loudly and with an enthusiastically raised hand. “Uh, if that’s okay. I can put her to bed.”

Pepper smiled and nodded. “That would be great. Thank you, Peter.”

The teen quickly made his way across the room, gently picking up the sleepy child. “Okay, Morgan, let’s get you to bed.” He shot a smile and a thumbs up at Pepper before walking up the stairs, taking special care not to trip with his precious cargo. He reached the top and paused, suddenly realizing he had no idea where he was going.

“Second door on the right,” Pepper called up helpfully.

“Thanks!” he stage whispered back. He toed open the appropriate door and gently deposited the girl on the bed. “There you go, Morgan. Do you need anything?” He glanced around the room. “Special toy? Nightlight? I used to have my uncle check the closet for monsters before bed every night.”

“A story.” Morgan scooted up in her bed and hugged her knees to her chest.

“Uh, like a fairytale? Like Cinderella?” He frantically tried to remember the full story, the pressure of doing a good job making him flustered.

Morgan shook her head. “Stories like what Daddy told me. About The Scientist and his friends.”

Peter frowned. “Sorry, I don’t know that one.”

“You know him!” Morgan argued. She clambered off her bed and retrieved a piece of paper from her desk. She shoved it into Peter’s hands and emphatically pointed at a green figure. “He’s downstairs. Green like spinach.”

“Dr. Banner?” It clicked in Peter’s brain and his heart skipped a beat as he looked at the crudely drawn figures. “What other stories did your dad tell you?”

“The Viking, The Soldier, The Archer, The Eyepatch,” she listed off as she pointed to each picture. “I didn’t add The Agent or The Sergeant yet. This one is The Spy. I didn’t see her downstairs. She’s probably hiding. Daddy said she’s really good at hide-and-seek.” She looked at him with Tony’s dark eyes and cocked her head. “Are you The Kid?”

Peter swallowed past the lump in his throat and somehow managed a nod.

Morgan scrunched up her face. “Where did you go? Daddy said you disappeared with a bunch of other people. Did someone find you?”

“Yeah, someone found us.” Peter’s voice broke and he blinked away the tears that were threatening to fall.

“You can tell me that story.” Morgan settled back into bed. “Daddy usually starts with once upon a time,” she supplied helpfully when Peter didn’t start right away.

He sat on the floor and leaned his back against the wall, his fingers still holding the drawing. “Once upon a time, there was a man called The Mechanic. He made special suits out of metal that let him fly and shoot laser blasts. He was crazy cool and really smart. He saved the world a bunch of times. He helped put together a huge team with The Eyepatch. The Scientist, The Viking, The Soldier, The Spy, The Archer, they were all there.”

“Were you there?”

“No.” Peter laughed. “I wasn’t special back then.”

“Oh.”

“But I heard about them all the time! I lived in the same city as The Mechanic. He would fly around New York.” Peter made whooshing noises and moved his hand through the air like Iron Man flying. “He was my hero. I met him once when I was a little older than you. There was a great, big robot at a tech show and he was going after a bunch of people. I got separated from my aunt and uncle but I knew that The Mechanic never backed down from a fight. So I stood up to the robot and tried to stop him. Just when he was about to blast me BAM!”

Morgan watched him with wide eyes and leaning forward. Her interest increased Peter’s energy.

“The Mechanic came out of nowhere and blasted the robot away. Pssshhhhhh.” Peter held out his hand, palm forward, as he made the blaster sound. “And then he flew away and went to save everyone else. It was amazing.

“So once I became a superhero, I decided I wanted to be just like him. I tried to build my own suit. It didn’t turn out as nice as The Mechanic’s stuff, but it worked. And one day he recruited me for a secret mission and gave me a cool new suit.”

“Was that when you went to fight the big purple grape?”

“That was a different mission, and a different suit.”

Morgan pursed her lips as she considered this. “Then you disappeared.”

“Yeah,” Peter said quietly, suddenly exhausted.

“But The Mechanic found you.”

His lips twitched up in a small smile. “Yeah, he found me.”

“That’s good.” Morgan nodded once.

Peter pulled his legs up and folded his arms on top of them. “I’m not sure if it was worth it. See, in order to find me, he gave up everything. He’s. . . gone now instead.” Peter felt tears leak down his cheeks and he hung his head to keep them hidden from Morgan. “I think the world would be better off if The Mechanic was here instead of The Kid.”

“I’m glad you’re here.” She broke into a wide smile. “You’re funny.”

Peter chuckled humorlessly and quickly wiped his face on his sleeve, leaving wet stains on his suit jacket. “Thanks for that, I think.” He sniffed and pushed himself up. “Now, I think it’s time to go to bed.”

Morgan snuggled down in the covers. “Can you get me my Viking?” She pointed to a princess doll on the other side of the room.

He did as she asked, making a note to tell Thor that he was represented by a ragdoll. Somehow, Peter didn’t think he’d mind. The teenager made sure Morgan was snuggly covered before he went to turn the light off.

“Goodnight, Morgan. Anytime you need a story, let me know, okay?”

“‘Kay,” Morgan mumbled, already half asleep.

Peter eased the door closed, leaning his back against it. The drawing was still held in his left hand. His spidey-sense lightly hummed a warning that someone was approaching and he looked up to find Pepper climbing the stairs

“I was beginning to worry she was giving you a hard time, so I came to check.” Pepper joined him and looked over at the paper. A smile graced her lips that almost reached her tired eyes. “He loved telling her those stories. It was nice to relive the past.” She pushed a stray hair behind her ear and looked up at Peter.

He avoided her gaze, choosing to focus on the drawing. “Morgan looks like she might have a real career as an artist. Do you think she would do a portrait for me? I’d love to have an original Morgan Stark for--”

He was cut off by Pepper pulling him into a tight hug. It took a moment before he reacted, returning the embrace and holding on like she was the only life preserver in a stormy ocean. She didn’t say anything. Which almost made it worse. Peter could feel tears running down his cheeks and he dimly hoped they weren’t make a mess of Pepper’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice wavering. “I’m so sorry.”

“No. Don’t be sorry. Never be sorry.” She pulled back and held him by the shoulders. Her eyes shone through her smile. “You are one of the best things to ever happen to Tony. He loved you. It’s because of you that we even decided to have Morgan. So don’t you ever, _ever_ , say you’re sorry to me.” She pulled him back into a hug. “I should be thanking you, Peter.”

They stayed like that for a long moment, finding support in each other. Finally, Peter pulled back and rubbed at his face with the back of his hand. The drawing was crumpled where he had been clutching it against Pepper’s back.

“I think I ruined Morgan’s picture,” he mumbled, sniffing and trying to smooth out the lines. “Sorry.” He realized what he said and forced a small smile. “I mean, um, yeah.”

“She can always make another one.” Pepper took the offered drawing. “Maybe the next one will have Uncle Peter in it.”

The notion made Peter tear up again, but he kept them under control. “If you ever need a babysitter." He smiled and pointed to himself.

“You’ll be the first one I call.” She put her arm around his shoulders and the pair descended the staircase, leaving Morgan dreaming of heroes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading guys. I'm not great at endings. I have an aversion to them in general. Something about saying goodbye.
> 
> Thanks for the kudos, the bookmarks, and for the comments of DancingAndTheDreaming, Kanelore, MysteryUncovered, Whisperwo1f, FriendLey, and acw28 (BTW, I completely agree. I should have worked in Coulson. There were a few characters I wanted to work in, but I started worrying it would slow the story down. I could do a few bonus chapters if people were interested?)
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed. Let me know what you think.


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